Robot Overlords

Robot Overlords – Three years after the robots invaded, the world’s population stays indoors on pain of death. Sean, Nathan, Alexandra and Connor discover a way to turn off their location tracking implants and leave the confines of their home. Sure that his absentee father is still alive, Sean and his friends set out to find him but the robots and local human collaborator, Robin Smythe, are never far behind them…

Robot Overlords (2014) – Director: Jon Wright

By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45349971

Rating: 12

Running Length: 90 mins

Starring: Callan MacAuliffe, Gillian Anderson, Ben Kingsley

Genre: Science Fiction, Action/Adventure

REVIEW: ROBOT OVERLORDS

The premise of robots taking over the world is nothing new. The main movie that brought this idea into the public consciousness is perhaps ‘The Terminator’ and there have been many since. While most have the robots going rogue from Artificial Intelligence, ‘Robot Overlords’ suggests that these robots have invaded from another planet although nothing is ever explicitly stated.

What makes or breaks a teen movie like this is the young characters and the chemistry between them. Sean (Callan MacAuliffe) is the unofficial leader, mainly due to him having a reason to fight back – the absolutely surety that his missing father is still alive. The others, Alexandra (Ella Hunt), Nathan (James Tarpey) and Connor (Milo Parker) make up the rest of the group and each one is well written and well acted, having their own individual personalities and none of them taking a back seat but also never taking over. Other characters are also well written and have plenty of screen time which, to the film’s credit, fully realises this dystopian world, even with such a small cast. Also, the special effects are excellent, the robots are believably dangerous and large with no humanity, with the notable exception ‘The Moderator’: he has the form of a child whose face has very unnerving level of ‘uncanny valley’.

Unfortunately there are also lots of glaringly obvious plot holes and nonsensical storylines. For instance, one of the teens suddenly develops the ability to control the robots but this is never explained; why do the implants turn back on without warning after being turned off? Such clangers drag you out of the movie and sadly make it difficult to consider ‘Robot Overlords’ a great movie, but regardless there is plenty of fun to be had here. The normality of English life and the realism of the characters allow the audience to believe the sci fi elements and this ensures an enjoyable ride throughout.

CONTENT: IS ‘ROBOT OVERLORDS’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The short prologue as the movie opens is written over a black screen and distressed screams can be heard. Part of this prologue states ‘…the war lasted just eleven days’, suggesting that any human resistance was brutally quashed.

A drunk man walks into the street and angrily shouts about robots, the man’s young son cries and begs him to come back inside. A robot quickly appears, urging the man to go back inside but he refuses. The robot starts a short countdown and, in front of the boy, the robot shoots and disintegrates the man. The boy runs out to where he was as the robot begins the countdown again.

A man visits a woman and is secretly watched by her son, Sean. He talks to his friends saying ‘She’s still perving on him’, the attraction is appears mutual and Sean’s friend, Nathan, says ‘Can hardly blame him as well…Kate is well fit’ and he puts both hands in front of his chest, indicating that she has large breasts.

A character says that a man’s wife was ‘doing the dirty’ behind her husband’s back, a young boy asks what that means and another says ‘You’ll find out when you’ve got a few pubes’.

A boy accidentally receives a strong electric shock which throws him across the room. He’s shaken but not badly hurt and this results in an oppressive device on his neck being turned off. The other kids then deliberately each have the same electric shock to turn off their devices. This is done off screen but immediately after they are seen running around having fun as light-hearted, upbeat music plays. This could have the effect of making electric shocks imitable.

The kids find photos of people with large red crosses over them, one asks what this means and another answers ‘I think it means they’re dead’.

The devices suddenly turn on and although the kids flee, two are suddenly grabbed by two huge robots and pulled away off screen.

A man who is known to the children is brought out to be punished, the device on his neck is drilled into and he cries out in pain. He is then strapped to a large machine. The machine is switched on but the camera cuts away as he begins to cry out. The kids are worried and upset; the robot ‘Moderator’ (a child-like robot) tells them ‘His pain will be brief but his data will last for eternity’. The machine stops and the man drops to the floor. The kids are told that he isn’t dead yet but that the machine ‘… leaves him incapable of feeding himself, he will die of natural causes – eventually’. Later in the movie, another character, who has been established as an ally to Sean and his friends suffers the same fate.

A boy holds fireworks under his arms and shoots them at the men keeping his friends captive. Again, this is made to look easy and a lot of fun which could be imitable.

The kids find a group of people who may be able to help them, however these people are very suspicious. The leader of the group tells them ‘You kids won’t be so tough when you’ve had a few fingers broken’. However she is calmed down by one of her people who reminds her that they are just children.

Sean is almost caught when he is surrounded by a group of people and recognised by a man who believes he will get a reward for giving him up but he is quickly subdued and Sean’s rescuer tells the others ‘Anyone says a word, I’ll cut their liver out and feed it to the cats’.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘ROBOT OVERLORDS’ FOR KIDS?

Flawed but entertaining, ‘Robot Overlords’ is a teen movie that balances science fiction and a character driven plot very well. We feel this movie is appropriate for kids aged 8 and over.

• Violence: 1/5 (a character tries to take revenge on someone with a shotgun)
• Emotional Distress: 2/5 (some established ‘good’ characters are killed)
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (the machine-like robots are likely to be quite scary, especially the large ones)
• Sexual Content: 1/5
• Bad Language: 2/5 (some moderate cursing)
• Dialogue: 3/5 (some violent dialogue)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of friendship, family, dystopian life, invasion, rebellion, humanity, bravery and not giving up.

Words by Laura Record